ATTOM: Homes Grow Less Affordable

(Illustration courtesy of ethan/pexels.com)

The median home price reached a new high of $375,000 in the third quarter, according to ATTOM, Irvine, Calif.

ATTOM’s Home Affordability Report found that affordability woes grew worse in much of the country. Of the 580 counties in ATTOM’s analysis, 44.7% (259) had worse affordability index ratings in the third quarter than in the second.

But there is some good news for prospective home buyers. Mortgage rates fell throughout the third quarter, with the average interest on a 30-year fixed rate loan dropping from 6.75 in mid-July to 6.26% in mid-September.

“The drop in mortgage rates will help some buyers keep pace with the rising cost of homes,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber noted. “But the more favorable loan rates could also enable prices to keep rising and further extend this two-and-a-half-year streak we’re in of homes being less affordable to the typical resident of an area than they historically have been.”

Nationwide, the median value of a home has gone up 58% since the beginning of 2020 while typical wages have risen by 28%. (The latest wage data available was for the first quarter of 2025.) ATTOM determines affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses–including mortgage payments, mortgage insurance, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance–on a median-priced single-family home and condo, assuming a 20% down payment and a 28% maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio.